Episode 44: Paradise Fibers

Hello Knitters! Thank you for joining us for our 1st podcast of 2018. We have a field trip to share with you as well as some FO's and other interesting things that you don't want to miss! Grab your knitting, a warm beverage (if you live in the Northern Hemisphere,) put your feet up and enjoy the show.

Episode 44 Audio 

Marcy wearing her Gabrielle sweater and her new hat Arve and she is holding her Pippa doll she made. Kim is wearing her Zweig and holding her finished P-Rex and she is wearing a hat made by Marcy's mom Terry.

What's in our Lesson Plan?

1. On the PA System
2. After the Finish Line
3. Show & Tell
4. Fieldtrip Notes and an interview
5. What's on our Black Board?

On the PA System

• Kim revisited some of her 2018 goals and has chosen the word "Focus" for her word of the year. She has also joined the 'Happier' podcast with Gretchen Rubin in the  "18 for 2018' challenge. 
• Kim won something! She is a patron of the Bakery Bear's video podcast and she entered the Fogg Along last year and she won a project bag. She is getting better about following through and actually posting her projects in the FO threads!
• Marcy and Kim have both jumped on the Ravelry "Project Challenge" bandwagon. Take a look and see if you're interested;  this year long event really sounds like fun! (scroll back to 1/5/18.)
• Marcy shared Jimmy Bean's Wool's fun Olympic Sock Along. Marcy has purchased the skein of yarn and it is gorgeous! The pattern is Olympia by Laura Smoot. What a fun way to knit along with the Winter Olympics! 
• Stitches West is February 22-25th in Santa Clara, CA.  Marcy has decided not to attend this year because she will still be recovering and healing from her knee surgery. As usual, Kim is waffling about whether or not she will be going!

After the Finish Line

Marcy has added length to Wilson's Monster pants and now he'll be able to continue wearing and enjoying them. You can hear more about the pants in ep. 24. Marcy was unable to attend the Women's March in Sacramento due to her knee, but she wore her pussyhat at home and is hoping to attend next year's march. You can hear more about the march from 2017 in ep. 24. Wilson has continued to love his Sock Monkey that Marcy made for him. You can hear more about that in ep. 14. 

Kim has been wearing all of her Caitlin Hunter sweaters and LOVING them! They were a joy to knit and are wonderful to wear. The Ninilchik, Sunset Highway and Zweig. She wore her Freestyle hand dyed, handspun shawl while on vacation in Mexico. She traveled in her 1st Whisper's Tee and she has been wearing hand knit socks everyday. 

Show & Tell

Marcy's mom wearing Gabrielle.

Even though it's been less than fun at Marcy's house the past 5 weeks (she's been recovering from her knee surgery and everyone but Marcy has been ill with the flu,) she has had a lot of knitting time! Marcy has finished the Gabrielle pullover by Leila Raabe.  She made a few mods and they are all listed on her project page. She used KnitPick's Swish worsted in the Green Tea Heather color and it was a fast and fun knit and the FO is a gorgeous winter sweater. She did have a HOWLER and have to knit the front twice...oh howlers, how we love you! 

Marcy wearing her Arve hat.

Marcy also finished a beautiful color work hat, the Arve by Tanis Gray. You can buy this pretty all over color work hat as a kit from Barrett Wool Co, but Marcy chose to use Cascade 220 super wash. She also finished one of the cutest stuffies that I've ever seen: The Pippa Doll by Lousie Crowler. This is from the book My Knitted Doll that Marcy bought while we were on a Lys field trip in Winters, CA at Cloth Carousel.

Pippa Doll that Marcy made.

Kim shared her last FO of 2017, the Zweig pullover by Caitlin Hunter. This was such a delightful sweater to knit and she has been wearing it a lot. She also FINALLY finished her P-Rex cape by Sosu. This was a slog...but she knows that she's going to love and wear the FO frequently! Kim is excited to swatch and move on to some new projects. She is planning on knitting 2-3 more warmer sweaters before transitioning to warmer weather short tees and tops. 

Field Trip Notes and an Interview

While visiting family for Thanksgiving in Washington state, Marcy was able to squeeze in a visit to the beautiful Lys, Paradise Fibers in Spokane, WA. This store is so much more than a yarn shop! In their large retail space they have: yarn, fiber, spinning wheels, looms, and all of the tools and equipment that you'll need to support all of these fiber pursuits. One of the most amazing aspects is that Bill Romine, the owner of Paradise fibers, has also designed and produces the Revoulution spinning wheel and other fiber tools! Enjoy the interview and don't forget to check out their website.

The historic building that Paradise Fibers is located in.

The area in the shop where all the yarn is located.

Mezzanine where all the fibber and weaving is located.

Wood Shop in the basement where they make the spinning wheels and combs.

The Revolution Spinning wheel shown with Bill holding up two different bobbins and how it easily accommodates both sizes.

What's on our Black Board?

In podcast 45, Marcy and Kim will share all of their wip's, fo's and any new co's. Hopefully, Kim will have some spinning to talk about and I'm certain that there will be more! 

Thank you for listening and Happy Knitting!